Manchester United's new saviour Amad Diallo proves that good things come to those who wait, as well as work, writes NATHAN SALT
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Even after referee John Brooks put Southampton out of their misery and brought the curtain down on the latest Amad Diallo show, the Manchester United saviour still wasn’t done showing off. Picking up the match ball he began doing tricks, bouncing it off his shoulder and up into the air before catching and cradling it back into his arms as United fans roared him on, all of those still here on their feet in awe.
![[Diallo struggled for gametime under previous Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/16/23/94191245-14294303-image-m-33_1737068636318.jpg)
The Ivorian is now cutting quite the highlights reel from a season that saw him deliver a match-winning brace for then-interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy against PAOK Salonika, produce the match-winning goal to down Man City in the derby, score a crucial equaliser at Anfield against table-topping Liverpool, and now this, his first Premier League hat-trick.
![[Diallo penned a new five-and-a-half-year deal with Manchester United earlier this month. Pictured: Diallo alongside United technical director Jason Wilcox]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/16/22/94190945-0-image-a-31_1737067726658.jpg)
Here was a player that Erik ten Hag so often overlooked. For Ruben Amorim he is the main man, an example to the likes of Alejandro Garnacho, who was this week warned he must adapt his game to stay part of this new-look side, that good things come to those who wait, as well as work.
At the start of this season Amad has gone from a player with a contract dwindling down towards expiry and being left with a face like thunder in Istanbul when Antony was brought on ahead of him to a player on a new deal running to 2030 and the jewel in this United crown.
‘The best years of his career are ahead of him, and we all look forward to helping Amad to reach his immense potential and achieve success at the club in the coming seasons,’ Jason Wilcox, Manchester United technical director, said as the ink dried on the 22-year-old’s deal.
